The Utilities group has plenty of great stocks, but investors should always be looking for companies that are outperforming their peers. Has Centrica PLC (CPYYY – Free Report) been one of those stocks this year? A quick glance at the company’s year-to-date performance in comparison to the rest of the Utilities sector should help us answer this question.
Centrica PLC is one of 104 individual stocks in the Utilities sector. Collectively, these companies sit at #6 in the Zacks Sector Rank. The Zacks Sector Rank includes 16 different groups and is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors.
The Zacks Rank is a successful stock-picking model that emphasizes earnings estimates and estimate revisions. The system highlights a number of different stocks that could be poised to outperform the broader market over the next one to three months. Centrica PLC is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).
Within the past quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for CPYYY’s full-year earnings has moved 1.4% higher. This shows that analyst sentiment has improved and the company’s earnings outlook is stronger.
Based on the latest available data, CPYYY has gained about 13.2% so far this year. Meanwhile, the Utilities sector has returned an average of 4.7% on a year-to-date basis. This shows that Centrica PLC is outperforming its peers so far this year.
Another Utilities stock, which has outperformed the sector so far this year, is RWE AG (RWEOY – Free Report) . The stock has returned 22.8% year-to-date.
Over the past three months, RWE AG’s consensus EPS estimate for the current year has increased 1.5%. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
To break things down more, Centrica PLC belongs to the Utility – Gas Distribution industry, a group that includes 13 individual companies and currently sits at #132 in the Zacks Industry Rank. On average, stocks in this group have lost 6% this year, meaning that CPYYY is performing better in terms of year-to-date returns.
RWE AG, however, belongs to the Utility – Electric Power industry. Currently, this 60-stock industry is ranked #75. The industry has moved +5.4% so far this year.
Centrica PLC and RWE AG could continue their solid performance, so investors interested in Utilities stocks should continue to pay close attention to these stocks.
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